Locomotive terminal and method of salvaging fire



Jan. 5 .1 926.. 1,568,542

J. J. BERNET 4 .LOCOIOTIVE TERMINAL AND METHOD OF SALVAQING FIRE Filed March 11, 1925 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 5 1926.

J. J. BERNET LOCOMOTIVE TERMINAL AND METHOD OF SABVAGING-FIRE Filed March 11 Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

T 0. aZZ whom it may concern heat already generated.

JOHN J. BERNET, or CLEVELAND; 01110.

lrocomorrvn Tannin, AND anson on SALVAGING FIRE.

Application filed March 11, 1925. Serial No. 14,625.

Be it known that I, JOHN citizen of, the United States, 1 residing at Cleveland, the county of Cuy'ahoga'and State of' Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive Terminals and Methods of Salva'ging'Fire,

of which the'following is a specification.

This invention relates to terminals 'in which locon'iotives'a're cleaned orrepaired, and in the use, of which the fire is removed from 'a' locomotive in order to render" it 'acces'sib'le for the Work to be done. According topracticeprior to the present invention, the fire ofa locomotive is disposed of by dumping it bodily into an ashypit or other receptacle,f from which itis subsoquently'remov'ed and disposed of as, refuse,

with'or without the" expense of a special; procedure for salvaging unconsumed fuel;

But evenwith such attem ts at recovery and the exercise of care in perniittingthefire to become as low as practicable before the 10001 motive enters the terminal, this practice involves great waste of useful fuel as well as The object of the present invention is to establish a method of procedure, as well as facilities for practicing the same,,whereby the ignited but unspent fuel discarded from the locomotive, in its glowing stateand prefera-bly Without the ash,is transferred to a' situation where its existing heat can be econoinically utilized and its combustion for tlie generation'of more heat canproceed without lnterruption, as, for instance, by

transferring the discarded glowing fuel of the locomotive to the fire box of another steam"gene'rator, preferably a stationary boiler; and, accordingly, one featurefof the present invention consists inso disposing, of

' the live portion of the fire bed of alocomotive' which is dumped as a preliminary to submitting the-locomotive for treatment or repairs; the preferred procedure involving J. BERNET, a"

transfering'such' naterial from the place of dumping, and 'a steam boiler or other industrial furnace'withi'n reach of such convey ing means" and suitably equipped for introducing live fire into its fire box; the trackage being also preferably provided with separate means for receiving ash or spent fuel thatmay be discharged from the locomotive 7 fire box'; and the fire receivingand conveying means being of such nature that it will receive the unconsumed fuelin its glowing state without contamination by the ashes; also said conveylng means consisting preferably" of elements which receive the fire by gravity "and co'nvey'it to a position within reach 'of' a pick-up and conveying means,

for instance, an overhead crane, and the means for'feeding 'the' fuel 'to' the furnace fire being constructed to receive the fuel from the crane.

In order that the invention may fully understood, the preferred embodiment thereof Wlll now be described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 is a plan view, and Figure 2 a vertical transverse section on the line 2 2 of Figure 1', of that portion of a locomotive terminal involved with the invention.

A. represents the fire cleaning house of a locomotive terminal in which are extended locomotive tracks B, and in which are 10- catedash pits C in position to vreceive, by

gravity, ashes discharged from locomotives properly spotted upon the several tracks.

Each ash pitC maybe constructed to serve a plurality of the'tracks B and will preferably include in its construction a well D' into which a pick-up bucket or other suitable instrum'entality may be introduced for remeans, such as suggested at E in Figure 2,

for delivering water over such portions of the pit as are inclined at a low angle, in

moving accumulation in the pit. These ash pits will also, preferably, be equipped with order to providea vehicle for conveying the j deposited ashes to the wells'D, and also for laying the dust and quenching the heat of the-ash in the wells; Also located beneath the tracks B, but in positions 're'movedfrom theash pits O, arefire dumping chutes F over which locomotivesmay be spotted after having"discharged'their ashes, and each of which chutes is constructed to direct fire, by gravity, into a buggy G traveling upon a track H to a pick-up opening J Where the contents of'the buggy, preferably" with "the.

body of the buggy, can be lifted by means of suitable lifting apparatus, preferably in the nature of a bridge craneK adaptedto dump the contents of the buggy selectively into any one of a series of hoppers 'L in feed ing relation to the fire grate M of a stat1onary boiler furnace 0. By this 'means, un spent fuel in the glowing state, and therefore without unecon'omical loss of heat un ts already developed, can'be transferred bodily to a furnace where combustion of the valuable fuel can be'continucd under most economical conditions, as, for instance, for the generation of "steam required for use around the locomotive terminal.

The furnace'O will preferably have associated with it, and within reach of the crane K, a coal bunker P adapted to be supplied with fresh fuel from cars running upon a track R, so that when the live fire or unspent locomotivefuel available for feeding the furnace O is insufficient for the demands on the furnace, fresh fuel may be picked up by the crane K, for instance, through the medium of the grab bucket S and delivered to the furnace, preferably, however, through the stoking'hopper i which will deliver in a relation to the fire which will be somewhat different from that in which the glowing fuel is delivered, and which will be more appropriate for fresh or uncoked fuel; However, this is a detail which may be largely a matter of choice and, like other details described in presentation of the preferred layout of the plant, maybe varied as circumstances may dictate. I

The buggy track H may, ifde'sired, be continued past the pick-up hole J, andto a point V located beneath the grate M of the stationary boiler, and thus made the means of removing'ash from the latter, for instance, by loading a buggy G beneath the grate'M, then moving it'be'neath the pick-up twelve tons per day; moreover, the-quantity of heat units wasted by dumping a live fire and the expense of water consumed in ueiicliin'g a dumped fire isconsiderable. r s compared with this practice, the present invention'takes the live fire with its already generated heat, and promptly transfers it to the collateral furnace, thereby effecting very great economy over prior practice, even when the latter involves treating the dumped refuse, after cooli'ng,to salvage unspent fuel.

I claim:

1. In a locomotive terminal, means for receiving ashes from alocomotive fire box, means for separately receiving the fuel'constituting the fire bed of the locomotive, and means for transferring said fuel while in a state'of ignition.

2. in a locomotive terminal, means for receiving ashes from a locomotive fire box, means'for separately receiving the fuel constitutin'g" the fire bed of the locomotive, a separate furnace adapted to receive fuel in a state of ignition, and means for transferring said fuel 'while in a state of ignition to said separate furnace.

3. In a locomotive terminal, means for receiving ashes from aloco'motive, an independent means, s aced from the ash receiving means, adapted to receive in a state of ignition the fuel constituting the fire bed of the locomotive, the fuel receiving means being port-able to convey' the fuel away, means for elevating and dumping'the fuel while in a state of ignition, and a separate furnace adapted to receive the burning fuel from the elevating and dumping means.

4. The improvement in the art of cleaning locomotives, which consists in salvaging the burning fuel froin the fuel bed of a locomotive by discharging the fire box of the locomotive and transferring it While still in a state of ignition to another furnace.

5. The improvement in the art of cleaning locomotives,'which consists in salvaging the burning fuel fron'l'the fuel bed of a locomo tive by first separating ash from the fuel bed and'then separately discharging the fire box of the locomotive and transferring it while still in a state of ignition to another furnace.

JOHN J. BERN'ET. 

